Savine Employment Law, Ltd.https://savinelaw.com Tue, 28 Apr 2020 15:25:51 +0000en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1https://savinelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/396/2015/11/cropped-logo-final-32x32.pngSavine Employment Law, Ltd.https://savinelaw.com 3232Zoom In For A Webinar On Coronavirus And The Workplacehttps://savinelaw.com/2020/04/28/zoom-in-for-a-webinar-on-coronavirus-and-the-workplace/ https://savinelaw.com/2020/04/28/zoom-in-for-a-webinar-on-coronavirus-and-the-workplace/#respondTue, 28 Apr 2020 15:03:10 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=283Gary Savine will be a featured panelist in a webinar about Coronavirus and the workplace.

]]>https://savinelaw.com/2020/04/28/zoom-in-for-a-webinar-on-coronavirus-and-the-workplace/feed/0Gary Savine To Speak On Empathy And Its Role In Enforcing Rules And Standards During A Pandemichttps://savinelaw.com/2020/04/21/empathy-workplace-standards/ Tue, 21 Apr 2020 18:34:17 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=280In this exceedingly trying time for workplaces, what role can empathy play in helping to enforce rules and standards?

It's an exceedingly trying time for workplaces. As leadership tries to make rules and enforce standards during the onslaught of COVID-19, how can empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, play a role?

]]>Gary Savine Is A Featured Panelist For Coronavirus And The Workplace Webinarhttps://savinelaw.com/2020/04/02/gary-savine-coronavirus-and-the-workplace-webinar/ Thu, 02 Apr 2020 19:29:25 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=278Your questions about coronavirus and the workplace will be addressed in a webinar featuring Gary Savine, Principal, Savine Employment Law, Ltd.

Gary Savine will be a featured panelist in a webinar focused on helping companies understand workplace issues created by COVID-19 and other communicable diseases. Hosted by Financial Poise, this webinar, The Impact of Communicable Diseases, Including Coronavirus, on the Workplace, is the fourth in a series of webinars concerning employment issues.

The webinar will air on Tuesday, April 28 at 12:45 p.m. CST. The full series, entitled Protecting Your Employee Assets: The Life Cycle Of The Employment Relationship 2020, runs through June of this year. It will cover topics including managing leaves and accommodating disabilities, workplace investigations and minimizing risks when terminating employees. Webinars are available for viewing after the live presentation.

Visit http://www.financialpoise.com to sign up for this and other episodes and to view past episodes online. Watch this space for updates on future episodes.

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]]>DOL Issues Guidance On Small Business Exemption From COVID-19 Leave Lawhttps://savinelaw.com/2020/04/02/small-business-exemption-covid-19-leave-law/ Thu, 02 Apr 2020 15:36:00 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=275Small businesses of less than 50 employees can who need to hold on to their workers and for whom the cost of leave is prohibitive can be exempted from the FFCRA, with some exceptions.

Staying Open: small businesses can be relieved from providing leave for COVID-19 to employees, with some exceptions.

On April 1, 2020, the US Department of Labor DOL published a 124-page “Temporary Rule” providing much-needed guidance on the emergency leave law entitlements under the Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Importantly, the rule includes instructions on an important exemption that may help struggling small employers opt out of part of the law.

Congress passed the FFCRA in March 2020 in part to help American workers cope with the economic disruption and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The FFCRA offers two types of paid leave: (A) up to 80 hours of emergency sick leave; and (B) longer-term paid family leave. We previously wrote about these leave rights in detail here.

Both types of leave apply generally to employers with fewer than 500 employees. The long-term leave portion of the FFCRA includes an exemption for businesses with fewer than 50 workers for whom granting leave would “jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern.” The FFCRA, however, left it to the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue guidance defining how businesses would qualify for the exemption. The DOL finally issued this guidance in the form of a “Temporary Rule” on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, and it comes not a moment too soon considering the FFCRA went into effect the same day.

Under the guidance, which can be found here the DOL instructs that these small employers will not have to provide leave if doing so would:

Raise expenses above revenue such that the employer would “cease operating at a minimal capacity”; or

The absence would “pose a substantial risk” to the employer’s financial health or operations because of the requesting worker’s skills, knowledge or duties; or

The employer can’t find enough workers to perform the work of the employee requesting an absence, if that work is necessary for the business to run at minimum capacity.

The DOL says that an “authorized officer of the business” must make the determination that the leave request falls into one of the three categories.

Such employers are not exempt from the two-week sick time requirement unless the worker is requesting time off to care for a child whose school has closed, however.

The guidance is effective April 1, 2020 and expires on December 31, 2020 as does the FFCRA.

We are here to help. Please contact us when you need our assistance with complying with the FFCRA or addressing other COVID-19 related employment issues.

]]>COVID-19 Emergency Sick and Family Leave: What Employers Need To Knowhttps://savinelaw.com/2020/03/20/covid-19-emergency-sick-and-family-leave-what-employers-need-to-know/ Fri, 20 Mar 2020 17:13:49 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=272The emergence of COVID-19 has created new federal emergency sick and family leave requirements. We answer frequently asked questions in this post.

COVID-19 has created new federal emergency family and sick leave laws.

As you may know, this past week President Trump signed into law new federal emergency sick and family leave requirements. The requirements go into effect 15 days from enactment.

What your company should be doing right now: Employers will want to examine current policies to determine what type of policy updates to consider and how to communicate these changes to their workforce. Short-term amendments to leave and paid-time-off policies will need to be considered. Also, examine the potential financial impact of the law and whether any anticipated workforce changes could be problematic once this law passes.

We are here to help! Please contact usif you’d like help with any of these compliance tasks:

1. Emergency Sick Leave for Employers With Fewer Than 500 Employees:

What does the sick leave entail? For full-time employees, eighty hours of sick leave are to be provided through the end of the year for a qualifying need, see below for details. Part-time employees are eligible for an estimated number of typical hours worked during a two-week period.

Who is a Qualifying Employer? Employers with fewer than 500 employees.

Who are Eligible Employees? Employees who have a qualifying need which includes:

complying with a physician directive that they have COVID-19 or may threaten exposure to others;

caring for a family member who has been infected or may threaten exposure to others; or

caring for a child whose school or daycare is closed due to COVID-19 precautions.

The above qualifying needs only apply where the employee cannot otherwise perform their job while complying with the physician’s directive or caring for a family member or child.

How much do employers pay? Employers are required to pay employees their normal wages or the minimum wage at the federal/state/local level, whichever is the higher. Sick-leave pay is capped at $511 per day ($5,110 in total) per employee for the employee’s own health-related absence and $200 per day ($2,000 in total) for caring for a family member or child.

Interaction with Current PTO Policy: Emergency sick leave must be provided in addition to any sick leave already provided by the employer.

2. Emergency Family Leave For All Employers:

This part of the law expands the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for employees who need to take longer-term leave through the end of the year because of closed schools or daycare. It does not extend benefits for those not working because of site closures or other reasons not already covered by FMLA.

Who is a Qualifying Employer? Any employer with fewer than 500 employees, including those with fewer than the current FMLA threshold of 50 employees. The Secretary of Labor can exempt employers with fewer than 50 employees if complying with the law would threaten the viability of the business. It is unclear how this exemption would be granted or how lenient the Department of Labor (DOL) will be.

Exclusions: The bill appears to exclude employers with fewer than 50 employees working from locations within a 75-mile radius from civil FMLA damages in an employee-initiated lawsuit.

Exemptions: Employers with fewer than 25 employees are exempt from reinstating the employee if the employee’s position no longer exists following the leave due to operational changes caused by the public health emergency.

Who are Eligible Employees? Employees must be employed by the employer for at least 30 days and have a minor child whose school or daycare is closed. Certain healthcare workers are excluded from coverage.

How much do we pay? The first 10 days do not need to be paid. The employee chooses whether to use other paid leave or take unpaid leave. The following 10 weeks must be paid at 2/3 of the employee’s rate of pay. Family-leave pay is capped at $200 per day, $10,000 in total.

3. How Are Businesses Going to Pay for This?

Employers who provide the above leave will be eligible to receive a 100% payroll tax credit for these costs. Employers may deduct up to $200 per day for employees who are taking care of others. Because this comes from the social security contribution, any amounts in excess of the social security liability will be paid for directly by the Treasury. The tax credit for family leave is up to $200 per day, not to exceed $10,000. For the self-employed, these credits will be applied against the self-employment tax.

4. What Can Employers Do Now?

Examine your current policies to determine what type of policy updates you should consider and how you will communicate these changes to your workforce. Short-term amendments to your FMLA and paid-time-off policies will need to be considered. You should also be examining the potential financial impact of the law and whether any anticipated workforce changes could be problematic once this law passes.

The law mandates DOL produce a notice posting and additional guidelines within seven days. We will continue to monitor developments and information as it becomes available.

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]]>Gary Savine Is A Featured Panelist In Employment Law Webinar Serieshttps://savinelaw.com/2020/03/04/gary-savine-is-a-featured-panelist-employment-law-webinar-series/ Wed, 04 Mar 2020 22:43:10 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=270Gary Savine is again a featured panelist in this year’s webinar series Employee Assets: The Life Cycle Of The Employment Relationship hosted by Financial Poise. For this third webinar in the 2020 series, Show Them The Money: Wage & Hour Compliance, the panel will address mistakes commonly made by employers and will endeavor to provide […]

Gary Savine is again a featured panelist in this year’s webinar series Employee Assets: The Life Cycle Of The Employment Relationship hosted by Financial Poise. For this third webinar in the 2020 series, Show Them The Money: Wage & Hour Compliance, the panel will address mistakes commonly made by employers and will endeavor to provide attendees with the tools to help find and fix potential wage and hour pitfalls. The webinar will air on Tuesday, March 24 at 1:00 p.m. CST.

The full series, which runs through June, 2020, will cover topics including managing leaves and accommodating disabilities, workplace investigations and minimizing risks when terminating employees. Webinars are available for viewing after the live presentation. Watch this space for updates on future episodes. Visit http://www.financialpoise.comto sign up for this and other episodes and to view past episodes online.

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]]>New Wage And Hour Laws Keep HR’s Compliance ‘To Do’ List Growinghttps://savinelaw.com/2020/02/26/new-wage-and-hour-laws-keep-hrs-compliance-to-do-list-growing/ Wed, 26 Feb 2020 17:49:40 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=268Recently, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published its final overtime rule, which changed exemption levels for white collar employees. You can find it in full on the DOL’s website. The final rule became effective January 1, 2020, which gave employers very little time to review and adjust the pay of their exempt workforce to comply with the law. For those who may still be catching up, here’s what you need to know...

Agency’s Action Changed Exemption Levels

Recently, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published its final overtime rule, which changed exemption levels for white collar employees. You can find it in full on the DOL’s Website. The final rule became effective January 1, 2020, which gave employers very little time to review and adjust the pay of their exempt workforce to comply with the law. For those who may still be catching up, here’s what you need to know:

4 Key Takeaways From The New Overtime Rules

The new rule increases the salary level for the white-collar exemptions (executive, administrative, and professional). New salary level for white collar exemptions will be $684 per week ($35,568). Previously, the required salary was $455 per week ($23,660).

The new salary level for highly compensated employees is $107,432. Previously, the required salary level was $100,000.

The rule permits employees to use non-discretionary bonuses and incentive payments (including commissions) that are paid at least annually to satisfy up to 10 percent of the standard salary level.

The new rule made no changes to the duties tests for any exemptions and did not provide for automatic annual increases.

At a minimum, a salary check of white-collar exempt workers should have been performed to determine if they remained above the salary threshold necessary to maintain exempt status; and planning for any necessary adjustments to take effect by January 1 should be done.

This new rule added another task to a long list of compliance actions employers needed to take to ready their organizations for 2020.

What Else Should Illinois Employers Be Thinking About in 2020?

1. Amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act (effective September 2019), which ban pay history inquiries and prohibits employers from requiring workers to sign contracts that prevent them discussing their pay with coworkers and others, with some exceptions. Details can be found here.

2. Amendments to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (effective January 1, 2020), which change discrimination and drug testing laws to account for the decriminalization of recreational marijuana use. Details can be found here and here.

4. Amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (effective January 1, 2020) that expand anti-discrimination protections to virtually every employer with as few as one worker, requires employers to provide annual sexual harassment prevention training, and requires employers to disclose annually to the State adverse rulings and certain settlements from the prior year. Details can be found here.

5. Chicago’s “Fair Workweek Ordinance” (effective July 1, 2020), a predictive scheduling ordinance which requires employers to give employees their schedules in advance and sets employee pay at a higher rate when changes are made to work schedules. More details are available here.

6. The Workplace Transparency Act (effective January 1, 2020), which places restrictions on employee confidentiality agreements, and prohibits employers from requiring employees to waive, arbitrate or diminish an existing or future claim related to unlawful employment. Details can be found here.

Does Your Company Have Any ‘To Dos’ That Need Doing?

If any of the above make your to do list look insurmountable or you have questions about them, give us a call at (312) 800-1439.

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]]>Gary Savine Featured In Employment Law Webinarhttps://savinelaw.com/2020/02/19/gary-savine-featured-in-employment-law-webinar/ Wed, 19 Feb 2020 19:32:40 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=263Gary Savine is a featured panelist in this year’s webinar series Employee Assets: The Life Cycle Of The Employment Relationship hosted by Financial Poise. For this second webinar in the 2020 series, An Ounce of Prevention: Policies, Procedures and Proactivity, the panel will address how to proactively review policies and procedures to maintain compliance standards. The webinar will air on Tuesday, February 25 at 1:00 p.m. CST.

Gary Savine is a featured panelist in this year’s webinar series Employee Assets: The Life Cycle Of The Employment Relationship hosted by Financial Poise. For this second webinar in the 2020 series,An Ounce of Prevention: Policies, Procedures and Proactivity, the panel will address how to proactively review policies and procedures to maintain compliance standards. The webinar will air on Tuesday, February 25 at 1:00 p.m. CST.

The full series, which runs through June, 2020, will cover topics including wage and hour compliance, managing leaves and accommodating disabilities, workplace investigations and minimizing risks when terminating employees. Webinars are available for viewing after the live presentation. Watch this space for updates on future episodes. Visit http://www.financialpoise.com to sign up for this and other episodes and to view past episodes online.

Never miss an update from Savine Employment Law, Ltd! Subscribe to our blog by clicking the feed icon next to our social icons. You must have a feed reader installed on your browser. We like feedly. Or, join the conversation on social media through our presence on LinkedIN, Facebook and Twitter.

]]>Not A Case Of The Mondays: The Legal Obligation To Manage Pandemics At Workhttps://savinelaw.com/2020/02/10/not-a-case-of-the-mondays-the-legal-obligation-to-manage-pandemics-at-work/ Mon, 10 Feb 2020 18:15:02 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=261Providing a safe working environment includes managing pandemics, like Coronavirus. Marketplace Morning Report (2/10/20) explores how to raise health as a topic in the workplace to keep all employees informed and safe.

We previously covered paid sick time and epidemics here, on our blog, be sure to take a look!

Happy Monday!

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]]>Illinois Employers: With Coronavirus Here, What’s Your Paid Sick Time Strategy? https://savinelaw.com/2020/01/28/illinois-employers-with-coronavirus-here-whats-your-paid-sick-time-strategy-%e2%80%a8/ Tue, 28 Jan 2020 23:16:37 +0000https://savinelaw.com/?p=259Illinois employers still have time to dust off their strategies for complying with paid sick time laws, including special duties that trigger only during public health emergencies, but they must act quickly or face a costly absenteeism crisis.

Review Paid Sick Time Laws’ “Public Health Emergency” Obligations Now

Players of the game “Pandemic” know time is of the essence to defeat a global health emergency. The current outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019 n-CoV) is no game. Illinois employers still have time to dust off their strategies for complying with paid sick time laws, including special duties that trigger only during public health emergencies, but they must act quickly or possibly face a costly absenteeism crisis.

Wait, what? I May Have to Provide Paid Sick Time Off to Workers Who Aren’t Sick?

Yes, you read correctly: for some Chicagoland employers, applicable paid sick time laws may require granting employee paid sick time for certain absences caused during public health emergencies, even though workers and their families aren’t ill. Failing to comply with these and other requirements, such as those set forth in the Chicago, Cook County and Illinois sick leave laws may result in some employers making costly missteps.

Here’s what your company needs to know now about Chicago, Cook County and Illinois sick leave laws:

Chicago Paid Sick Time Ordinance

Eligible employees who work in Cook County are entitled to up to 40 hours of paid sick time in a 12-month period, and the opportunity to carry over half their unused time, up to 20 hours (and possibly more), to subsequent years.

Employees may use the time for their own illness, or the illness of a family member or to receive medical care.

Employees may also use paid sick time if their workplace is closed or they must care for children whose schools or daycare are closed due to a health emergency. This applies even if the employee or employees’ family isn’t sick!

Cook County Paid Sick Time Ordinance

Eligible employees who work in Cook County (other than in cities or other municipalities that have opted out of the ordinance) are entitled to similar amounts of paid sick time off, and have the right to use the time off under similar emergency circumstances.

Other Sick Time and Leave Rights That Might Trigger in a Coronavirus Pandemic

Employers in Cook County and elsewhere in Illinois should also remember to comply with the Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act, which obligates employers who offer paid or unpaid sick time for personal illness, to also cover an employee’s absences for a family member’s illness. Depending on the circumstances, they may also be obligated to provide time off for coronavirus-related absences under the Family and Medical Leave Act and/or as a reasonable accommodation under local, federal and state anti-discrimination laws, like the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act.

Your Prescription for Coronavirus Preparedness

Savvy employers should check in with HR and, if necessary, an employment lawyer to confirm that paid and unpaid sick time and leave policies comply with all applicable laws. They should also remind managers and supervisors how to administer the policies; even businesses who outsource the management of leave to third party providers would benefit from refreshing leaders on the basics.

We’re ready to update your policies and refresh you on all these requirements. Don’t delay, Call us today

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